Bicycling in Huntsville

Bicycle Advisory and Safety Committee
Co-Chairs: James Moore and Marjorie Holderer.
The BASC meets monthly on the second Tuesday at 5pm at city hall, 308 Fountain Circle.
For dates and directions contact James Moore

For information about local bicycling courses contact BASC member James Reynolds

Our local friendly LAB LCI (League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor) has a great webpage resource to find when and where cycling classes are offered. Mountain BikingHuntsville Area Trail MapsSORBA-Huntsville

May 4 Spring City Cycling Club will kick off its 10th annual Ride A Metric (RAM) training series on May 4, 2013. This training series will help participants progress from neighborhood or casual riders to cyclists who are confident about riding on the road. For more information: www.springcity.org/ram

June 8 MSFC Family Picnic - MARS and Center staff are asking us to provide bicycle event(s).

Safe Routes to School

What are Safe Routes to Schools?
The Safe Routes to School program is a national and international
movement to enable and encourage elementary and middle school children to walk and bicycle to school.
GOALS:

To enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bike to school;

To make bicycling and walking to school safer and more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age;

To facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of projects and activities that will improve and reduce traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution around schools.

The federal transportation bill reauthorized in 2005,SAFETE-LU, promoted by a coalition of health, walking, bicycling, and urban planning advocates and professionals, authorizes over $1 million for each state annually for SRTS grants. Through the use of the “5 Es”, engineering, education, enforcement, evaluation, and encouragement, programs are developed to create a safe, appealing environment for walking and biking to school that encourages a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age. Safe Routes to School enriches the quality of children’s lives and benefits communities by implementing projects that will reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, and enhance neighborhood safety. Safe Routes to School also has the potential to reduce the alarming nationwide trend in child obesity and inactivity.

In 1969, approximately 50% of children walked or biked to school, and 87% of the children living within one mile of their school arrived under their own power. Today, fewer than 15% of schoolchildren walk or bike to school. In addition, parents driving their children to school can generate as much as 20% to 30% of morning traffic. Over the last 25 years, air pollution has been linked to a 74% increase in asthma rates among children ages 5-14, and a 160% increase in children up to age 4.

The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) has administered a SRTS program since 2007 and has approved over $ 7 million in awards to over 75 schools across Alabama. The City of Huntsville was awarded a $200,000 SRTS grant in 2008 and is planning to apply for another one in November 2010. Contact James Moore for more information. (link email)

The City of Huntsville Bikeway Plan has been updated and was approved by the Huntsville Planning Commission on February 21, 2006. The plan identifies 39 different bike routes to be constructed throughout the city within a five year period. All routes will be identified with signage. The total bicycle network identified in the plan will include approximately 160 miles of bikeway facilities in addition to the ten existing transit routes, which will encourage and promote bicycling while increasing transit ridership.

Funding for the five year project will be provided by the City of Huntsville and through state and federal grants. The Bikeway Plan is available by clicking on the link below.

The City of Huntsville Bikeway Plan requires Adobe
Acrobat in order to be viewed. The Bikeway Plan will be shown once you
click on the City of Huntsville Bikeway Plan link below. Once the file is
open, use the bookmarks displayed on the left side of the document to
navigate quickly throughout the text. The bookmarks are arranged in
expandable folders, indicated by a "+" sign. Click on the folder you wish
to view. Clicking on the visible subheadings under the folder will take
you directly to the page of the information you wish to view.